Thomas Edison - Wikiquote Thomas Edison Jump to: navigation , search Genius is one percent inspiration , ninety nine percent perspiration. Thomas Alva Edison ( 11 February 1847 – 18 October 1931 ) was an American inventor and businessman who developed many devices which greatly influenced life worldwide into the twenty-first century. Contents Quotes[ edit ] Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits. Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power ! Discontent is the first necessity of progress. Show me a thoroughly satisfied man and I'll show you a failure. Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. I find out what the world needs. Then, I go ahead and invent it. We don't know a millionth of one percent about anything. Hell, there are no rules here — we're trying to accomplish something. Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do doesn't mean it's useless.

To Monsieur Eiffel the Engineer, the brave builder of so gigantic and original a specimen of modern Engineering from one who has the greatest respect and admiration for all Engineers including the Great Engineer the Bon Dieu. When Thomas Edison visited The Eiffel Tower, he signed the guestbook with this message, as quoted in The Tallest Tower by Joseph Harris, p. 95. Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. This is presented as a statement of 1877, as quoted in From Telegraph to Light Bulb with Thomas Edison (2007) by Deborah Headstrom-Page, p. 22. During all those years of experimentation and research, I never once made a discovery. All my work was deductive, and the results I achieved were those of invention, pure and simple. I would construct a theory and work on its lines until I found it was untenable. Then it would be discarded at once and another theory evolved. This was the only possible way for me to work out the problem.

… I speak without exaggeration when I say that I have constructed 3,000 different theories in connection with the electric light, each one of them reasonable and apparently likely to be true. Yet only in two cases did my experiments prove the truth of my theory. My chief difficulty was in constructing the carbon filament. . . . Every quarter of the globe was ransacked by my agents, and all sorts of the queerest materials used, until finally the shred of bamboo, now utilized by us, was settled upon. On his years of research in developing the electric light bulb, as quoted in "Talks with Edison" by [[w:George Parsons Lathrop|George Parsons Lathrop] in Harper's magazine, Vol. 80 (February 1890), p. 425. The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will instruct his patient in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease.

This has been reprinted many times with slight variations on the wording; it is part of a much larger quote directly from Edison published in 1903: Nineteen hundred and three will bring great advances in surgery, in the study of bacteria, in the knowledge of the cause and prevention of disease. Medicine is played out. Every new discovery of bacteria shows us all the more convincingly that we have been wrong and that the million tons of stuff we have taken was all useless. The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will instruct his patient in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease. They may even discover the germ of old age. I don't predict it, but it might be by the sacrifice of animal life human life could be prolonged. Surgery, diet, antiseptics — these three are the vital things of the future in preserving the health of humanity. There were never so many able, active minds at work on the problems of diseases as now, and all their discoveries are tending to the simple truth — that you can't improve on nature. As quoted in "Wizard Edison" in The Newark Advocate (2 January 1903), p.

1 according to research by Barbara and David P. Mikkelson at snopes.com . Nature is what we know. We do not know the gods of religions. And nature is not kind, or merciful, or loving. If God made me — the fabled God of the three qualities of which I spoke: mercy, kindness, love — He also made the fish I catch and eat. And where do His mercy, kindness, and love for that fish come in? No; nature made us — nature did it all — not the gods of the religions Thomas Edison ""No Immortality of the Soul" says Thomas A. Edison. In Fact, He Doesn't Believe There Is a Soul — Human Beings Only an Aggregate of Cells and the Brain Only a Wonderful Machine, Says Wizard of Electricity". New York Times. October 2, 1910 Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration. Spoken statement (c. 1903); published in Harper's Monthly (September 1932). Variants: None of my inventions came by accident. I see a worthwhile need to be met and I make trial after trial until it comes.

What it boils down to is one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration. Statement in a press conference (1929), as quoted in Uncommon Friends: Life with Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, Alexis Carrel & Charles Lindbergh (1987) by James D. Newton, p. 24. Variant forms without early citation: "Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration. Accordingly, a 'genius' is often merely a talented person who has done all of his or her homework." "Genius: one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration." I never did anything worth doing by accident, nor did any of my inventions come indirectly through accident, except the phonograph. No, when I have, fully decided that a result is worth getting, I go about it, and make trial after trial, until it comes. Commenting on Henry Ford 's currency plan in ”Ford sees wealth in Muscle Shoals”, New York Times (6 December 1921), p. 6 . My mind is incapable of conceiving such a thing as a soul.

I may be in error, and man may have a soul; but I simply do not believe it. What a soul may be is beyond my understanding. "Do We Live Again?" an interview with Edison, as quoted in Mr. Edison's New Argument from Design" in The Illustrated London News (3 May 1924). We are like tenant farmers chopping down the fence around our house for fuel when we should be using Nature's inexhaustible sources of energy — sun, wind and tide. … I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that. In conversation with Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone (1931); as quoted in Uncommon Friends : Life with Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, Alexis Carrel & Charles Lindbergh (1987) by James Newton, p. 31. I believe in the existence of a Supreme Intelligence pervading the Universe. As quoted in Thomas A. Edison, Benefactor of Mankind : The Romantic Life Story of the World's Greatest Inventor (1931) by Francis Trevelyan Miller, Ch.

25 : Edison's Views on Life — His Philosophy and Religion, p. 293. We really haven't got any great amount of data on the subject, and without data how can we reach any definite conclusions? All we have — everything — favors the idea of what religionists call the "Hereafter." Science, if it ever learns the facts, probably will find another more definitely descriptive term. As quoted in Thomas A. Edison, Benefactor of Mankind : The Romantic Life Story of the World's Greatest Inventor (1931) by Francis Trevelyan Miller, Ch. 25 : Edison's Views on Life — His Philosophy and Religion, p. 295. It is very beautiful over there! These have sometimes been reported as his last words, but were actually spoken several days before his death, as he awoke from a nap, gazing upwards, as reported by his physician Dr. Hubert S. Howe, in Thomas A. Edison, Benefactor of Mankind : The Romantic Life Story of the World's Greatest Inventor (1931) by Francis Trevelyan Miller, Ch. 25 : Edison's Views on Life — His Philosophy and Religion, p. 295.

We don't know a millionth of one percent about anything. As quoted in Golden Book (April 1931), according to Stevenson's Book of Quotations (Cassell 3rd edition 1938) by Burton Egbert Stevenson . There is a great directing head of people and things — a Supreme Being who looks after the destinies of the world. I am convinced that the body is made up of entities that are intelligent and are directed by this Higher Power. When one cuts his finger, I believe it is the intelligence of these entities which heals the wound. When one is sick, it is the intelligence of these entities which brings convalescence. You know that there are living cells in the body so tiny that the microscope cannot find them at all. The entities that give life and soul to the human body are finer still and lie infinitely beyond the reach of our finest scientific instruments. When these entities leave the body, the body is like a ship without a rudder — deserted, motionless and dead. As quoted in The Romance and Drama of the Rubber Industry (1936) by Harvey Samuel Firestone Restlessness is discontent — and discontent is the first necessity of progress.

Show me a thoroughly satisfied man — and I will show you a failure. The Diary and Sundry Observations of Thomas Alva Edison (1948), p. 110. Through all the years of experimenting and research, I never once made a discovery. I start where the last man left off. … All my work was deductive, and the results I achieved were those of invention pure and simple. As quoted in Makers of the Modern World : The Lives of Ninety-two Writers, Artists, Scientists, Statesmen, Inventors, Philosophers, Composers, and Other Creators who Formed the Pattern of Our Century (1955) by Louis Untermeyer , p. 227. So far as the religion of the day is concerned, it is a damned fake … Religion is all bunk. As quoted in What on Earth is an Atheist! (1972) by Madalyn Murray O'Hair , p. 251. Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. As quoted in An Enemy Called Average (1990) by John L. Mason, p. 55.

If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves. As quoted in Motivating Humans : Goals, Emotions, and Personal Agency Beliefs (1992) by Martin E. Ford, p. 17. To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk. As quoted in Behavior-Based Robotics (1998) by Ronald C. Arkin. p. 8. Everyone steals in commerce and industry. I've stolen a lot, myself. But I know how to steal! They don't know how to steal! As quoted in Tesla : The Modern Sorcerer (1999) by Daniel Blair Stewart, p. 411. Variant: Everyone steals in commerce and industry. I have stolen a lot myself. But at least I know how to steal. I find out what the world needs. Then, I go ahead and invent it. As quoted in American Greats (1999) Edited by Robert A. Wilson and Stanley Marcus, p. 70. Hell! There ain't no rules around here! We are tryin' to accomplish somep'n! Response received (after Edison spat on the floor and before he walked off) when M. A.

Rosanoff joined the West Orange, New Jersey team in 1903 and humbly asked: “Mr. Edison, please tell me what laboratory rules you want me to observe.” M. A. Rosanoff’s quote appeared in Harper’s Monthly, September 1932, p. 24. Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do doesn't mean it's useless. As quoted in Artifacts : An Archaeologist's Year in Silicon Valley (2001) by Christine Finn. p. 90. I never did a day's work in my life, it was all fun. As quoted in Edison & Ford Quote Book (2003) edited by Edison & Ford Winter Estates. I have never seen the slightest scientific proof of the religious ideas of heaven and hell, of future life for individuals, or of a personal God. As quoted in Jesus : Myth Or Reality? (2006) by Ian Curtis, p. 289. I do not believe in the God of the theologians; but that there is a Supreme Intelligence I do not doubt The Freethinker (1970), G.W. Foote & Company, Volume 90, p.

147. I owe my success to the fact that I never had a clock in my workroom. Seventy-five of us worked twenty hours every day and slept only four hours — and thrived on it. Diary entry, as quoted in Defending and Parenting Children Who Learn Differently : Lessons from Edison's Mother (2007) by Scott Teel, p. 12. The Philosophy of Paine (1925)[ edit ] Essay in The Diary and Sundry Observations (1948) edited by Dagobert D. Runes - Full essay online I consider Paine our greatest political thinker. As we have not advanced, and perhaps never shall advance, beyond the Declaration and Constitution , so Paine has had no successors who extended his principles . Tom Paine has almost no influence on present-day thinking in the United States because he is unknown to the average citizen. Perhaps I might say right here that this is a national loss and a deplorable lack of understanding concerning the man who first proposed and first wrote those impressive words , 'the United States of America.' But it is hardly strange.

Paine's teachings have been debarred from schools everywhere and his views of life misrepresented until his memory is hidden in shadows, or he is looked upon as of unsound mind. We never had a sounder intelligence in this Republic. He was the equal of Washington in making American liberty possible. Where Washington performed Paine devised and wrote. The deeds of one in the Weld were matched by the deeds of the other with his pen. In Common Sense Paine flared forth with a document so powerful that the Revolution became inevitable. Washington recognized the difference, and in his calm way said that matters never could be the same again. I consider Paine our greatest political thinker. As we have not advanced, and perhaps never shall advance, beyond the Declaration and Constitution , so Paine has had no successors who extended his principles . Although the present generation knows little of Paine's writings,and although he has almost no influence upon contemporary thought, Americans of the future will justly appraise his work. I am certain of it. Truth is governed by natural laws and cannot be denied. Paine spoke truth with a peculiarly clear and forceful ring. Therefore time must balance the scales.

Looking back to those times we cannot, without much reading, clearly gauge the sentiment of the Colonies. Perhaps the larger number of responsible men still hoped for peace with England. They did not even venture to express the matter that way. Few men, indeed, had thought in terms of war. Then Paine wrote ' Common Sense ,' an anonymous tract which immediately stirred the fires of liberty. It flashed from hand to hand throughout the Colonies. One copy reached the New York Assembly, in session at Albany, and a night meeting was voted to answer this unknown writer with his clarion call to liberty. The Assembly met, but could find no suitable answer. Tom Paine had inscribed a document which never has been answered adversely, and never can be, so long as man esteems his priceless possession. In 'Common Sense' Paine flared forth with a document so powerful that the Revolution became inevitable. Washington recognized the difference, and in his calm way said that matters never could be the same again.. It must be remembered that 'Common Sense' preceded the declaration and affirmed the very principles that went into the national doctrine of liberty. But that affirmation was made with more vigor, more of the fire of the patriot and was exactly suited to the hour.

It is probable that we should have had the Revolution without Tom Paine. Certainly it could not be forestalled, once he had spoken. Many a person who could not comprehend Rousseau , and would be puzzled by Montesquieu , could understand Paine as an open book. He wrote with a clarity, a sharpness of outline and exactness of speech that even a schoolboy should be able to grasp. There is nothing false, little that is subtle, and an impressive lack of the negative in Paine. He literally cried to his reader for a comprehending hour, and then filled that hour with such sagacious reasoning as we find surpassed nowhere else in American letters — seldom in any school of writing. He has been called an atheist , but atheist he was not. Paine believed in a supreme intelligence, as representing the idea which other men often express by the name of deity . His Bible was the open face of nature , the broad skies, the green hills. He disbelieved the ancient myths and miracles taught by established creeds. But the attacks on those creeds — or on persons devoted to them — have served to darken his memory, casting a shadow across the closing years of his life.

When Theodore Roosevelt termed Tom Paine a "dirty little atheist" he surely spoke from lack of understanding. It was a stricture, an inaccurate charge of the sort that has dimmed the greatness of this eminent American. But the true measure of his stature will yet be appreciated. The torch which he handed on will not be extinguished. The memory of Tom Paine will outlive all this. No man who helped to lay the foundations of our liberty — who stepped forth as the champion of so difficult a cause — can be permanently obscured by such attacks. Tom Paine should be read by his countrymen. I commend his fame to their hands. Misattributed[ edit ] There is time for everything. This expression greatly predates any use of it by Edison. George Head used it in A Home Tour Through the Manufacturing Districts of England in the Summer of 1835 (1836), p. 198, in which he states: If time be judiciously employed, there is time for everything. There is also an entry in the Bible (Ecclesiastes 3:1) that says There is [a] time for everything, however this varies a lot between the different translations.

I am much less interested in what is called God's word than in God's deeds. All bibles are man-made. John Burroughs, in "Religious Contrasts : Letters of Pantheist and a Churchman", in The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 128, No. 4 (October 1921), p. 520. There is no expedient to which a man will not go to avoid the labor of thinking. Sir Joshua Reynolds. Edison liked the quote and posted it around his factory. If Edison had a needle to find in a haystack, he would proceed at once with the diligence of the bee to examine straw after straw until he found the object of his search. ~ Nikola Tesla Quotes about Edison[ edit ] To my simple mind it is not obvious that a successful electrician is an authority on the immortal soul , any more than that a successful military strategist has an ear for music , or an admirable French cook a grasp of the higher mathematics . G. K. Chesterton , on the interview with Edison "Do We Live Again?" in which he stated "My mind is incapable of conceiving such a thing as a soul." He felt there was a central processing core of life that went on and on.

That was his conclusion. We talked of it many times together . . . Call it religion or what you like, Mr. Edison believed that the universe was alive and that it was responsive to man's deep necessity . It was an intelligent and hopeful religion if there ever was one. Mr. Edison went away expecting light , not darkness . Henry Ford , as quoted in Thomas A. Edison, Benefactor of Mankind : The Romantic Life Story of the World's Greatest Inventor (1931) by Francis Trevelyan Miller, p. 294. If Edison had a needle to find in a haystack, he would proceed at once with the diligence of the bee to examine straw after straw until he found the object of his search. … I was a sorry witness of such doings, knowing that a little theory and calculation would have saved him ninety percent of his labor. Nikola Tesla , as quoted in The New York Times (19 October 1931). He never was an atheist .

Although he subscribed to no orthodox creed, no one who knew him could have doubted his belief in and reverence for a Supreme Intelligence, and his whole life, in which the ideal of honest, loving service to his fellowman was predominant, indicated faithfully those two commandments wherein lies "all the law and all the prophets." Thomas Edison - Kids Discover Thomas Edison image image image image image image image image image What is genius? According to Thomas Edison, it’s 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration. By this definition, Edison certainly qualified. From childhood to the end of his long life, Edison was always working on some project. Many of them were inspirations that changed the world we live in. This issue explores these great inventions and the man who pioneered them. What is genius? According to Thomas Edison, it's 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration. By this definition, Edison certainly qualified. From childhood to the end of his long life, ... Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. - Thomas A. Edison - BrainyQuote Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. Find on Amazon: Thomas A.

Edison Cite this Page: Citation Thomas Edison | Kids Discover Thomas Edison Start Reading Unit What is genius? According to Thomas Edison, it’s 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration. By this definition, Edison certainly qualified. From childhood to the end of his long life, Edison was always working on some project. Many of them were inspirations that changed the world we live in. This issue explores these great inventions and the man who pioneered them. Genvive - Thomas Edison Genvive Tat Tvam Asi (Sanskrit ) -"That you are". Chandogya Upanishad 6.8.7, 7 (c. 600 BC) If a thing is possible and proper to man, deem it attainable by thee. Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) – “The Meditations”. VI. 19.

Thomas Edison - The Most Prolific Inventor of all Time Thomas Edison (February 11 1847, Milan, Ohio - October 18 1931, West Orange, New Jersey) (aged 84) Nationality: Unique distinction: The most prolific inventor of all time, inventor the light bulb and phonograph. Gender: Male Quotes: 1. Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. 2. There is always a better way. 3.There is far more opportunity than there is ability. 4. I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. 5. I find out what the world needs. Then I go ahead and try to invent it 6. Vision without execution is hallucination. 7. The three great essentials to achieve anything worth while are: Hard work, Stick-to-itiveness, and Common sense. 8. Anything that won't sell, I don't want to invent. Its sale is proof of utility, and utility is success. 9. Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. 10. I never did a day's work in my life.

It was all fun. 11. If we did all the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves. 12. Be courageous. I have seen many depressions in business. Always America has emerged from these stronger and more prosperous. Be brave as your fathers before you. Have faith! Go forward! Achievements: Social and professional position: American inventor, physicist and businessman. The main contribution to (what is known): Thomas Edison is the most successful inventor in human history, held 1,093 U.S. patents, and hundreds more in other nations. His most famous work includes the incandescent light bulb, the phonograph, the alkaline storage battery, and a forerunner of the motion picture projector. Contributions: Thomas Edison was the American great genius inventor, scientist and businessman who developed many devices that greatly influenced the quality of life around the world. A genius in the practical application of scientific principles, Edison was one of the greatest and most productive inventors of his time. He was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of mass production and large teamwork to the process of invention, and therefore is often credited with the creation of the first industrial research laboratory.

He received 1093 patents in his name in the United States alone and laying the groundwork for many technological innovations of the 20th century. His most significant inventions include the incandescent light bulb, phonograph, gramophone, stock ticker, electric locomotives, motion picture camera and projector, and hundreds more. In 1869 Edison received his first patent for an invention - electric registrar of votes in the ballots. There were no buyers for this patent, and since that time Edison took took the motto: “Never invent something unless there was a demand for it”. In 1877 he invented the carbon telephone transmitter (microphone) for the Western Union Telegraph Company. His phonograph (patented 1878) was notable as the first successful instrument of its kind. In 1879, Edison created the first commercially practical incandescent lamp (with a carbon filament). In 1882 he developed and installed the world's first large central electric-power station, located in New York City. In 1888 he invented the kinetoscope, the first machine to produce motion pictures by a rapid succession of individual views.

In 1913 he produced, , the first talking moving pictures. During World War I he helped to develop the manufacture in the United States of chemicals previously imported; he also served as head of the U.S. navy consulting board concerned with ship defenses against torpedoes and mines. He is credited with numerous inventions that contributed to mass communication and, in particular, telecommunications. His entrepreneurial ventures eventually led him to found 14 companies, including General Electric, which is still in existence and is one of the largest publicly traded companies in the world. He always invented for necessity, with the object of devising something new that he could manufacture. More than any other, he laid the basis for the technological revolution of the modern electric world. Honors and Awards: In 1928, he was awarded the congressional Gold Medal. Inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, 1973. Major works: The most prolific inventor of all time. He had 1,368 separate and distinct patents during his lifetime. He invented the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and the long-lasting, practical electric light bulb.

Life: Origin: He was born in Milan, Ohio, and grew up in Port Huron, Michigan. He was the seventh and last child of Samuel Edison, Jr. (1804–1896), who was of Dutch ancestry and Nancy Matthews Elliott (1810–1871) a local school teacher. Education: He attended public schools for only about three months. Later Edison's mother educated him herself. Career highlights: He worked as a telegrapher (1862 – 68) in various cities before deciding to pursue invention and entrepreneurship. He created the world's first industrial-research laboratory, in Menlo Park, N.J. and it was there he produced his numerous outstanding inventions. After the death of his first wife (1884), he built a new laboratory in West Orange, N.J. Edison's labs were located in Menlo Park, New Jersey, leading to his nickname of "The Wizard of Menlo Park." Although his later projects were not as successful as his earlier ones, Edison continued to work even in his 80s. Personal life: Little Tomas was a very sick child.

As a boy, Edison suffered from dyslexia and had problems with his hearing which grew worse over time, leaving him almost completely deaf by adulthood. In school, the young Edison's mind often wandered, and his teacher, the Reverend Engle, was overheard calling him "addled". He had very little formal schooling and mother homeschooled him. He began reading every book on the shelves and much of his education came from reading R.G. Parker's School of Natural Philosophy and The Cooper Union. By the age of ten he had constructed a chemistry laboratory in the basement of his family's home. At 12 he was earning money selling newspapers, vegetables and candy on trains. During this period that he began to suffer from deafness, which was to increase throughout his life. He was married twice and have six children. He loved to read Shakespeare and Thomas Paine. Edison died in West Orange, N.J., on Oct. 18, 1931. Remains: Buried, Edison National Historic Site, West Orange, NJ. Zest: Later he said the injury occurred when the conductor, in helping him onto a moving train, lifted him by the ears.

Edison is also famous for being a dogged worker: he often slept no more than four hours per night and made the famous statement, "Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration." Checking the characteristics of the coal lamp circuit, he has spent in the laboratory about 45 hours without rest. It was he who suggested to use at the beginning of a call, the word "hello". Edison became close friends with another inventor and businessman, Henry Ford. Some 25,000 notebooks contained his research records, ideas, hunches and mistakes. His Nickname was: The Wizard of Menlo Park. His height: 5' 10" (1,78 m) Links: Edison quotes Paraphrased, Modernized, And Logically Sequenced For Educational Use Another Uniquely Creative Award-Winning "*Clean Contents" Document Copyrighted © 1996 By Gerald Beals All rights Reserved My main purpose in life is to make enough money to create ever more inventions.... The dove is my emblem.... I want to save and advance human life, not destroy it.... I am proud of the fact that I have never invented weapons to kill....

I never perfected an invention that I did not think about in terms of the service it might give others... I find out what the world needs, then I proceed to invent.... My principal business consists of giving commercial value to the brilliant, but misdirected, ideas of others.... Accordingly, I never pick up an item without thinking of how I might improve it. I readily absorb ideas from every source, frequently starting where the last person left off. Because ideas have to be original only with regard to their adaptation to the problem at hand, I am always extremely interested in how others have used them.... A good idea is never lost. Even though its originator or possessor may die without publicizing it, it will someday be reborn in the mind of another.... I am not overly impressed by the great names and reputations of those who might be trying to beat me to an invention.... Its their 'ideas' that appeal to me. I am quite correctly described as 'more of a sponge than an inventor....' "Genius is one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration.

Accordingly, a 'genius' is often merely a talented person who has done all of his or her homework." Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. The first requisite for success is to develop the ability to focus and apply your mental and physical energies to the problem at hand - without growing weary. Because such thinking is often difficult, there seems to be no limit to which some people will go to avoid the effort and labor that is associated with it.... I never did anything worth doing entirely by accident.... Almost none of my inventions were derived in that manner. They were achieved by having trained myself to be analytical and to endure and tolerate hard work. Inspiration can be found in a pile of junk. Sometimes, you can put it together with a good imagination and invent something. Personally, I enjoy working about 18 hours a day. Besides the short catnaps I take each day, I average about four to five hours of sleep per night. Most of the exercise I get is from standing and walking all day from one laboratory table to another. I derive more benefit and entertainment from this than some of my friends and competitors get from playing games like golf.

If we all did the things we are really capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.... Our schools are not teaching students to think. It is astonishing how many young people have difficulty in putting their brains definitely and systematically to work.... The three things that are most essential to achievement are common sense, hard work and stick-to-it-iv-ness..... I have far more respect for the person with a single idea who gets there than for the person with a thousand ideas who does nothing.... Many of life's failures are experienced by people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. Pretty much everything will come to him who hustles while he waits. I believe that restlessness is discontent, and discontent is merely the first necessity of progress. Show me a thoroughly satisfied man and I will show you a failure. Unfortunately, there seems to be far more opportunity out there than ability.... We should remember that good fortune often happens when opportunity meets with preparation. Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do in the first place doesn't mean it's useless.... Results? Why, man, I have gotten lots of results! If I find 10,000 ways something won't work, I haven't failed.

I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is often a step forward.... Surprises and reverses can serve as an incentive for great accomplishment. There are no rules here, we're just trying to accomplish something. As a cure for worrying, work is far better than whiskey. I always found that, if I began to worry, the best thing I could do was focus upon doing something useful and then work very hard at it. Soon, I would forget what was troubling me. Barring serious accidents, if you are not preoccupied with worry and you work hard, you can look forward to a reasonably lengthy existence.... Its not the hard work that kills, its the worrying that kills. The only time I really become discouraged is when I think of all the things I would like to do and the little time I have in which to do them. The thing I lose patience with the most is the clock. Its hands move too fast. Time is really the only capital that any human being has and the thing that he can least afford to waste or lose... From his neck down a man is worth a couple of dollars a day, from his neck up he is worth anything that his brain can produce.

The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human body, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease. Whatever the mind of man creates, should be controlled by man's character. I love great music and art, but I think 'cubist' songs and paintings are hideous. Someday, man will harness the rise and fall of the tides, imprison the power of the sun, and release atomic power. I am both pleased but astonished by the fact that mankind has not yet begun to use all the means and devices that are available for destruction. I hope that such weapons are never manufactured in quantity. The United States, and other advanced nations, will someday be able to produce instruments of death so terrible the world will be in abject terror of itself and its ability to end civilization.... Such war-making weapons should be developed - but only for purposes of discovery and experimentation The dove is my emblem.... I want to save and advance human life, not destroy it.... I am proud of the fact that I never invented weapons to kill...

To me, the idea and expectation that the day is slowly and surely coming when we will be able to honestly say we are our brother's keeper and not his oppressor is very beautiful . Until man duplicates a blade of grass, nature can laugh at his so-called scientific knowledge.... Its obvious that we don't know one millionth of one percent about anything. I believe that the science of chemistry alone almost proves the existence of an intelligent creator. We have merely scratched the surface of the store of knowledge which will come to us. I believe that we are now, a-tremble on the verge of vast discoveries - discoveries so wondrously important they will upset the present trend of human thought and start it along completely new lines . Be courageous! Whatever setbacks America has encountered, it has always emerged as a stronger and more prosperous nation.... Be brave as your fathers before you. Have faith and go forward! If parents pass enthusiasm along to their children, they will leave them an estate of incalculable value.... The memory of my mother will always be a blessing to me.... Life's most soothing things are a child's goodnight and sweet music.... Great music and art are earthly wonders, but I think 'cubist' songs and paintings are hideous.

Even though I am nearly deaf, I seem to be gifted with a kind of inner hearing which enables me to detect sounds and noises that the listeners do not perceive. Of all my inventions, I liked the phonograph best...." ADDENDUM 1 Paraphrased Edison quote with respect to his work on perfecting the light bulb: From "Edison The Man And His Work" by George S. Bryan 1926. "The electric light has caused me the greatest amount of study and has required the most elaborate experiments.... Although I was never myself discouraged or hopeless of its success, I can not say the same for my associates.... Through all of the years of experimenting with it, I never once made an associated discovery. It was deductive... The results I achieved were the consequence of invention - pure and simple. I would construct and work along various lines until I found them untenable. When one theory was discarded, I developed another at once. I realized very early that this was the only possible way for me to work out all the problems.

ADDENDUM 2 "The terrible thing about interest is that those people who will not be turning a shovel full of dirt on this (Muscle Shoals Dam Project) or be contributing a pound of material towards it will collect more money from the United States than will the People who supply all the material and do all the work on it." ADDENDUM 3 Edison's favorite piece of poetry was stanza nine from Thomas Gray's Elegy To A Country-Churchyard, which he perpetually recited within earshot of his many associates: "The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave, Awaits alike the inevitable hour: The paths of glory lead but to the grave." Genius, Inventor, Businessman | Kids Discover Genius, Inventor, Businessman 560L - 740L 750L - 890L 900L - 1040L What is genius? According to Thomas Edison, it is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration. By this definition, Edison certainly qualified. From his early childhood to the end of his long life, Edison was always working on some project.

Many of them were inspirations that changed the world we live in. The incandescent electric light bulb, the phonograph, the motion picture projector—these are his most famous inventions, but there were many, many more. During the course of his lifetime, Edison received patents for 1,093 inventions. Edison was more than an inventor, though. In the interest of seeing his inventions become reality, he had to become a businessman as well. After building the first movie camera, for example, he built a studio on the grounds of his West Orange, New Jersey, laboratory and produced the first motion pictures. Edison was far from the stereotype of the antisocial inventor who avoids society to follow his inner vision. More than any other inventor, he created the modern team approach to research and development of new ideas. You might say it was an unpatented invention. Where did Edison get his inspirations, and just how much perspiration did it take to see his dreams become reality? Read on, as Kids Discover takes you on a journey with a genius.

Thomas Edison Thomas Edison "Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration." - Thomas Edison, Harper's Monthly (September 1932) Born: West Orange, New Jersey, United States Occupation: Spouse: Mary Edison, Mina Edison Thomas Alva Edison ( February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman who developed many devices which greatly influenced life in the 20th century . Dubbed "The Wizard of Menlo Park" by a newspaper reporter, he was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of mass production to the process of invention, and can therefore be credited with the creation of the first industrial research laboratory. Some of the inventions attributed to him were not completely original but amounted to improvements of earlier inventions or were actually created by numerous employees working under his direction. Nevertheless, Edison is considered one of the most prolific inventors in history, holding 1,097 U.S. patents in his name, as well as many patents in the United Kingdom , France , and Germany . Early life Thomas Edison was born in Milan, Ohio, the seventh child of Samuel Ogden Edison, Jr.

(1804–1896) (born in Marshalltown, Nova Scotia, Canada) and the former Nancy Matthews Elliott (1810–1871). His family was of Dutch origin. His mind often wandered and his teacher the Reverend Engle was overheard calling him "addled". This ended Edison's three months of formal schooling. His mother had been a school teacher in Canada and happily took over the job of schooling her son. She encouraged and taught him to read and experiment. He recalled later, "My mother was the making of me. She was so true, so sure of me; and I felt I had something to live for, someone I must not disappoint." Many of his lessons came from reading R.G. Parker's School of Natural Philosophy. Edison became hard of hearing at the age of twelve. There are many theories of what caused this; according to Edison he went deaf because he was pulled up to a train car by his ears. Edison's life in Port Huron, Michigan was bittersweet. He sold candy and newspapers on trains running from Port Huron to Detroit.

Partially deaf since adolescence, he became a telegraph operator after he saved Jimmie Mackenzie from being struck by a runaway train. Jimmie's father, station agent J.U. Mackenzie of Mount Clemens, Michigan, was so grateful that he took Edison under his wing and trained him as a telegraph operator. Edison's deafness aided him as it blocked out noises and prevented Edison from hearing the telegrapher sitting next to him. One of his mentors during those early years was a fellow telegrapher and inventor named Franklin Leonard Pope, who allowed the then impoverished youth to live and work in the basement of his Elizabeth, New Jersey home. Some of his earliest inventions related to electrical telegraphy, including a stock ticker. Edison applied for his first patent, the electric vote recorder, on October 28, 1868. Marriages and children On December 25, 1871, Edison married the then 16 year old Mary Stilwell whom he had met two months earlier.

They had three children, Marion "Dot" Estelle Edison ( 1873– 1965) Thomas "Dash" Alva Edison, Jr ( 1876– 1935) William Leslie Edison ( 1878– 1935) Mary Edison died on August 9 1884. On February 24, 1886, at the age of thirty-nine, Edison married 19-year-old Mina Miller in Akron, Ohio. They also had three children: Madeleine Edison ( 1888– 1979) Charles Edison ( 1890– 1969), who took over the company upon his father's death and who later was elected Governor of New Jersey) Theodore Edison ( 1898– 1992) Mina outlived Thomas Edison, dying on August 24, 1947.

Beginning his career Edison and early phonograph, 1877 Thomas Edison began his career as an inventor in Newark, New Jersey, with the automatic repeater and his other improved telegraphic devices, but the invention which first gained him fame was the phonograph in 1877. This accomplishment was so unexpected by the public at large as to appear almost magical. Edison became known as "The Wizard of Menlo Park," New Jersey, where he lived. His first phonograph recorded on tinfoil cylinders that had low sound quality and destroyed the track during replay so that one could listen only a few times. In the 1880s, a redesigned model using wax-coated cardboard cylinders was produced by Alexander Graham Bell , Chichester Bell, and Charles Tainter. This was one reason that Thomas Edison continued work on his own "Perfected Phonograph." Thomas Edison was a freethinker, and was most likely a deist, claiming he did not believe in "the God of the theologians", but did not doubt that "there is a Supreme Intelligence".

He is quoted, "I believe that the science of chemistry alone almost proves the existence of an intelligent creator." However, he rejected the idea of the supernatural, along with such ideas as the soul, immortality, and a personal God. "Nature", he said, "is not merciful and loving, but wholly merciless, indifferent." Menlo Park Edison's Menlo Park Laboratory, removed to Greenfield Village in Dearborn, MI. (Note the organ against the back wall) Thomas Edison's first light bulb used to demonstrate his invention at Menlo Park. U.S. Patent #223898 Electric Lamp Edison's major innovation was the first industrial research lab, which was built in Menlo Park, New Jersey. It was the first institution set up with the specific purpose of producing constant technological innovation and improvement. Edison was legally attributed with most of the inventions produced there, though many employees carried out research and development work under his direction. William Joseph Hammer, a consulting electrical engineer, began his duties as a laboratory assistant to Edison in December 1879. He assisted in experiments on the telephone , phonograph, electric railway, iron ore separator, electric lighting, and other developing inventions.

However, Hammer worked primarily on the incandescent electric lamp and was put in charge of tests and records on that device. In 1880 he was appointed Chief Engineer of the Edison Lamp Works. In his first year, the plant under general manager Francis Robbins Upton turned out 50,000 lamps. According to Edison, Hammer was "a pioneer of incandescent electric lighting." Most of Edison's patents were utility patents, which during Edison's lifetime protected for a 17-year period inventions or processes that are electrical, mechanical, or chemical in nature. About a dozen were design patents, which protect an ornamental design for a 14 year period. Like most inventions, his were not typically completely original, but improvements to prior art. The phonograph patent, on the other hand, was unprecedented as the first device to record and reproduce sounds. Edison did not invent the first electric light bulb, but instead invented the first commercially practical incandescent light. Several designs had already been developed by earlier inventors including the patent he purchased from Henry Woodward and Mathew Evans, Moses G. Farmer, Joseph Swan, James Bowman Lindsay, William Sawyer, Sir Humphry Davy, and Heinrich Göbel.

Some of these early bulbs had such flaws as extremely short life, high expense to produce, and high current draw, making them difficult to apply on a large scale commercially. In 1878, Edison applied the term filament to the element of glowing wire carrying the current, although English inventor Joseph Swan had used the term prior to this. Edison took the features of these earlier designs and set his workers to the task of creating longer-lasting bulbs. By 1879, he had produced a new concept: a high resistance lamp in a very high vacuum, which would burn for hundreds of hours. While the earlier inventors had produced electric lighting in laboratory conditions dating back to a demonstration of a glowing wire by Alessandro Volta in 1800, Edison concentrated on commercial application and was able to sell the concept to homes and businesses by mass-producing relatively long-lasting light bulbs and creating a complete system for the generation and distribution of electricity . The Menlo Park research lab was made possible by the sale of the quadruplex telegraph that Edison invented in 1874, which could send four simultaneous telegraph signals over the same wire.

When Edison asked Western Union to make an offer, he was shocked at the unexpectedly large amount that Western Union offered; the patent rights were sold for $10,000. The quadruplex telegraph was Edison's first big financial success. Incandescent era In 1878, Edison formed the Edison Electric Light Company in New York City with several financiers, including J. P. Morgan and the Vanderbilt families. Edison made the first public demonstration of his incandescent light bulb on December 31, 1879, in Menlo Park. On January 27, 1880, he filed a patent in the United States for the electric incandescent lamp; it was during this time that he said, "We will make electricity so cheap that only the rich will burn candles." On October 8, 1883, the U.S. patent office ruled that Edison's patent was based on the work of William Sawyer and was therefore invalid. Litigation continued for nearly six years, until October 6, 1889, when a judge ruled that Edison's electric light improvement claim for "a filament of carbon of high resistance" was valid.

To avoid a possible court battle with Joseph Swan, whose English patent had been awarded a year before Edison's, he and Swan formed a joint company called Ediswan to market the invention in Britain. Other designs for a light bulb included Serbian inventor Nikola Tesla 's idea of utilizing radio frequency waves emitted (in the Tesla effect) from the side electrode plates to light a wireless bulb. He also developed plans to light a bulb with only one wire with the energy refocused back into the center of the bulb by the glass envelope with a centre "button" to emit an incandescent glow. Edison's design won out during this time, although Tesla did go on to invent fluorescent lighting. Edison patented an electric distribution system in 1880, which was critical to capitalize on the invention of the electric lamp. The first investor-owned electric utility was the 1882 Pearl Street Station, New York City . On September 4, 1882, Edison switched on the world's first electrical power distribution system, providing 110 volts direct current (DC) to 59 customers in lower Manhattan, around his Pearl Street generating station.

On January 19, 1883, the first standardized incandescent electric lighting system employing overhead wires began service in Roselle, New Jersey. Edison speech on light bulb Video clip of Thomas Edison talking about the invention of the light bulb, late 1920s. . Carbon telephone transmitter In 1877 and 1878 Edison invented and developed the carbon microphone used in all telephones along with the Bell receiver until the 1980s. After protracted patent litigation, a federal court ruled in 1892 that Edison and not Emile Berliner was the inventor of the carbon microphone. (Josephson, p146). The carbon microphone was also used in radio broadcasting and public address work through the 1920s. War of currents Extravagant displays of electric lights quickly became a feature of public events, as this picture from the 1897 Tennessee Centennial Exposition shows. George Westinghouse and Edison became adversaries due to Edison's promotion of direct current (DC) for electric power distribution over the more easily transmitted alternating current (AC) system promoted by George Westinghouse.

Unlike DC, AC could be stepped up to very high voltages with transformers, sent over thinner and less expensive wires, and stepped down again at the destination for distribution to users. Despite Edison's contempt for capital punishment, the war against AC led Edison to become involved in the development and promotion of the electric chair as a demonstration of AC's greater lethal potential versus the "safer" DC. Edison went on to carry out a brief but intense campaign to ban the use of AC or to limit the allowable voltage for safety purposes. As part of this campaign, Edison's employees publicly electrocuted dogs, cats, and in one case, an elephant to demonstrate the dangers of AC. AC replaced DC in most instances of generation and power distribution, enormously extending the range and improving the efficiency of power distribution. Though widespread use of DC ultimately lost favour for distribution, it exists today primarily in long-distance high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission systems. Low voltage DC distribution continued to be used in high density downtown areas for many years and was replaced by AC low voltage network distribution in many central business districts. DC had the advantage that large battery banks could maintain continuous power through brief interruptions of the electric supply from generators and the transmission system.

Utilities such as Commonwealth Edison in Chicago had rotary converters which could change DC to AC and AC to various frequencies in the early to mid 20th century. Utilities supplied rectifiers to convert the low voltage AC to DC for such DC load as elevators, fans and pumps. There were still 1600 DC customers in downtown New York City when the service was discontinued in 2005. Work relations Frank J. Sprague, a competent mathematician and former naval officer, was recruited by Edward H. Johnson, and joined the Edison organization in 1883. One of Sprague's significant contributions to the Edison Laboratory at Menlo Park was to expand Edison's mathematical methods. (Despite the common belief that Edison did not use mathematics, analysis of his notebooks reveal that he was an astute user of mathematical analysis, for example, determining the critical parameters of his electric lighting system including lamp resistance by a sophisticated analysis of Ohm's Law, Joule's Law and economics .) A key to Edison's success was a holistic rather than reductionist approach to invention, making extensive use of trial and error when no suitable theory existed. (See Edisonian approach).

Since Sprague joined Edison in 1883 and Edison's output of patents peaked in 1880 it could be interpreted that the shift towards a reductionist analytical approach may not have been a positive move for Edison. Sprague's important analytical contributions, including correcting Edison's system of mains and feeders for central station distribution, form a counter argument to this. In 1884, Sprague decided his interests in the exploitation of electricity lay elsewhere, and he left Edison to found the Sprague Electric Railway & Motor Company. However, Sprague, who later developed many electrical innovations, always credited Edison for their work together. Another of Edison's assistants was Nikola Tesla who claimed that Edison promised him $50,000 if he succeeded in making improvements to his DC generation plants. Several months later, when he had finished the work and asked to be paid, Tesla claimed that Edison said, "When you become a full-fledged American you will appreciate an American joke". Tesla immediately resigned. This anecdote is somewhat doubtful, since at Tesla's salary of $18 per week the bonus would have amounted to over 53 years pay, and the amount was equal to the initial capital of the company.

Tesla resigned when he was refused a raise to $25 per week (Jonnes, p110). Although Tesla accepted an Edison Medal later in life and professed a high opinion of Edison as an inventor and engineer, he remained bitter. The day after Edison died the New York Times contained extensive coverage of Edison's life, with the only negative opinion coming from Tesla who was quoted as saying, "He had no hobby, cared for no sort of amusement of any kind and lived in utter disregard of the most elementary rules of hygiene" and that, "His method was inefficient in the extreme, for an immense ground had to be covered to get anything at all unless blind chance intervened and, at first, I was almost a sorry witness of his doings, knowing that just a little theory and calculation would have saved him 90 percent of the labor. But he had a veritable contempt for book learning and mathematical knowledge, trusting himself entirely to his inventor's instinct and practical American sense." When Edison was a very old man and close to death, he said, in looking back, that the biggest mistake he had made was that he never respected Tesla or his work.

Later years Edison celebrates his 82nd birthday with President Herbert Hoover , Henry Ford , and Harvey Firestone. Ft. Myers, Florida , February 11, 1929. Edison became the owner of his Milan, Ohio, birthplace in 1906, and, on his last visit, in 1923, he was shocked to find his old home still lit by lamps and candles. Influenced by a fad diet that was popular in the day, in his last few years "he consumed nothing more than a pint of milk every three hours". He believed this diet would restore his health. Edison was active in business right up to the end. Just months before his death in 1931, the Lackawanna Railroad implemented electric trains in suburban service from Hoboken to Gladstone, Montclair and Dover in New Jersey. Transmission was by means of an overhead catenary system, with the entire project under the guidance of Thomas Edison. To the surprise of many, Thomas Edison was at the throttle of the very first MU (Multiple-Unit) train to depart Lackawanna Terminal in Hoboken, driving the train all the way to Dover.

As another tribute to his lasting legacy, the very same fleet of cars Edison deployed on the Lackawanna in 1931 served commuters until their retirement in 1984. A special plaque commemorating the joint achievement of both the railway and Edison, can be seen today in the waiting room of Lackawanna Terminal in Hoboken, presently operated by New Jersey Transit. Edison purchased a home known as "Glenmont" in 1886 as a wedding gift for Mina in Llewellyn Park in West Orange, New Jersey. The remains of Edison and his wife, Mina, are now buried there. The 13.5 acre (55,000 m²) property is maintained by the National Park Service as the Edison National Historic Site. Thomas Edison died on October 18, 1931, in New Jersey at the age of 84. His final words to his wife were "It is very beautiful over there." Mina died in 1947. Edison's last breath is purportedly contained in a test tube at the Henry Ford Museum.

Ford reportedly convinced Charles Edison to seal a test tube of air in the inventor's room shortly after his death, as a memento. A plaster death mask was also made. In the 1880s, Thomas Edison bought property in Fort Myers, Florida , and built Seminole Lodge as a winter retreat. Henry Ford , the automobile magnate, later lived a few hundred feet away from Edison at his winter retreat, The Mangoes. Edison even contributed technology to the automobile. They were friends until Edison's death. Criticism Seminole Lodge Although in his early years Edison worked alone, he built up a research and development team to a considerable number while at his Menlo Park research laboratory. This large research group, which included engineers and other workers, often based their research on work done by others before them, as is true of all research and development. Many have claimed that when his staff succeeded, he presented the inventions as his own and got the credit for them as they were patented in his name. His staff generally carried out his directions in conducting research, and when he was absent from the lab, the pace of work slowed greatly.

Other inventors had worked on the development of an incandescent light bulb before Edison invented the first which was commercially practical. He is commonly credited as its inventor, even though a number of employees also worked on the device under his direction. His was the first incandescent light bulb with high resistance, a small radiating area, and a commercially useful lifetime. Other critics have claimed that he put obstacles in the way of his competitors, and used other methods which were ethically questionable, even if their technology was superior to what was created by his own workers. Thomas Edison made an electric light bulb and said that in six weeks, he would have a light bulb industry and would be generating electricity from Niagara Falls. Investors, including JP Morgan, invested large amounts of money in Edison's scheme. The breakthrough came in the fourteenth month when they finally found material suitable for use as a filament. They put lights around Menlo Park and lots of people came to see them. After two years, there was a prototype lighting system at his complex. The people working at Menlo Park couldn't create enough light bulbs, so he wanted to mass produce them, however the investors didn't want to spend any more money until the original promise was met.

Four years after the original promise, the lights turned on at Central Station. Some other towns then began to install lights. Soon after that, competitors emerged, including George Westinghouse. Edison launched a propaganda campaign to convince people that AC was too dangerous. He repeatedly electrocuted animals with 1000V of alternating current to 'prove' that AC was unsafe. Thomas Edison introduced execution by electrocution. In 1889, a murderer ( William Kemmler) was executed by electrocution. The executioners left the current on for 17 seconds. He was smoking, so it was turned off, but he wasn't dead; he was bleeding out of multiple places and was having spasms, so they quickly turned it back on and left it on for 72 seconds. His body was smouldering. After this, the public outrage was so strong that he was fired from his company, it was renamed "General Electric" and it joined with George Westinghouse. Finally, the company built the hydro-electric plant at Niagra Falls. One of the more notable occasions when Edison electrocuted animals was when in 1903, he electrocuted Topsy the elephant at Luna Park.

Edison claimed that it was the AC power's fault that the animals died; not his. He claimed that the animals being electrocuted were being "Westinghoused". Edison even filmed the death of Topsy and gladly distributed the video. Tributes Statue of Thomas Edison in Dearborn, Michigan. As a famous inventor, many tributes have been made to Thomas Edison. Several places and objects have been named after the inventor, including the town of Edison, New Jersey, and Thomas Edison State College, a nationally-known college for adult learners in Trenton, New Jersey. There is a Thomas Alva Edison Memorial Tower and Museum in the town of Edison. In the Netherlands , major music awards are named after him. The City Hotel, in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, was the first building to be lit with Edison's three-wire system. The hotel was renamed The Hotel Edison, and retains that name today. The "Incredible Machines: Contraptions" game series has an alligator The United States Navy named the USS Edison, a Gleaves class destroyer, in his honour in 1940. The ship was decommissioned a few months after the end of World War II .

In 1962, the Navy commissioned USS Thomas A. Edison, a fleet ballistic missile nuclear-powered submarine. Decommissioned on 1 December 1983, Thomas A. Edison was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on April 30, 1986. She went through the Navy’s Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at Bremerton, Washington, beginning on 1 October 1996. When she finished the program on December 1, 1997, she ceased to exist as a complete ship and was listed as scrapped. The Edison Medal was created on February 11, 1904, by a group of Edison's friends and associates. Four years later the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE), later IEEE, entered into an agreement with the group to present the medal as its highest award. The first medal was presented in 1909 to Elihu Thomson, and ironically, was awarded to Nikola Tesla in 1917.

The Edison Medal is the oldest award in the area of electrical and electronics engineering, and is presented annually "for a career of meritorious achievement in electrical science, electrical engineering or the electrical arts." Several landmarks exist in honour of Edison. The Port Huron Museums, in Port Huron, Michigan, restored the original depot that Thomas Edison worked out of as a young newsbutcher. The depot has appropriately been named the Thomas Edison Depot Museum. The town has many Edison historical landmarks including the gravesites of Edison's parents. In Detroit, the Edison Memorial Fountain in Grand Circus Park was created to honour his achievements. The limestone fountain was dedicated October 21, 1929. Life magazine (USA), in a special double issue, placed Edison first in the list of the "100 Most Important People in the Last 1000 Years", noting that his light bulb "lit up the world". He was ranked thirty-fifth on Michael H. Hart's list of the most influential figures in history. In 1940, his life was documented on the screen when Spencer Tracy starred as Edison in "Edison The Man." He has been called the fifteenth Greatest American.

In recognition of the enormous contribution inventors make to the nation and the world, the Congress, pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 140 (Public Law 97 - 198), has designated February 11, the anniversary of the birth of Thomas Alva Edison, as National Inventor's Day. In 1879, Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam wrote the book "L'Ève Future" (translated into English as "Tomorrow's Eve"), about a fictional Thomas Edison who creates the ideal (artificial) woman. Trivia Edison helped found one of the very first Montessori schools in the United States. Companies bearing Edison's name Edison General Electric, now General Electric Commonwealth Edison, now part of Exelon Consolidated Edison

Question: According to the inventor Thomas Edison genius is made up how many percent of inspiration?
Answer: One